Fortune Cookie
by Cats070911
Summary: A meal, some fortune cookies and anything can happen! A short fluffy piece inspired by a friend's fortune cookie.


**Author's note:** All usual disclaimers apply.

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Detective Inspector Tommy Lynley shook the rain from his umbrella and opened the sliding glass door of The Dragon Garden restaurant for his sergeant. Barbara Havers was hungry and with a lull in their workload she had been more than happy to accept his suggestion of dinner. They had eaten here once or twice before with the team and Barbara was partial to their house special, Dragon Chicken. Thinking about it as she threaded her way between packed tables of rowdy diners she unconsciously licked her lips.

Lynley had planned this for days and had hoped that she would accept his seemingly casual, last minute invitation. On a Tuesday night the crowd was more family oriented than it would be on the weekend. He had reserved a quiet booth at the rear, well away from the squeaking flap of the saloon doors that separately the kitchen from the dining room. Tommy stood back to allow Barbara to sit. She threw her bag onto the far side then slid across the red vinyl seat giving him room to slip in beside her. The crisply starched white square tablecloth that covered a softer cream one caught in her sleeve and she fiddled to release it then smoothed it out with her palms.

Lynley smiled broadly; it was typical of her unconscious clumsiness but also her ease around him these days. "Hungry?" he asked, knowing exactly how she would reply.

"Starving!" It had become a game between them lately and Barbara knew the inspector liked to watch her eat. In the past she had been self-conscious about her table manners but they rarely went anywhere she was not comfortable to eat exactly as she liked. Her boss was surprisingly good company. Since Helen's death he had lost a touch of arrogance but it was his inner peace that made the difference.

They ordered more food than he thought was required but when it was served Barbara tucked in as if she had not eaten in three months. Tommy grinned as he ate the Mongolian Prawns. This had been a good choice of restaurant for what he had planned. They chatted casually about Winston's new girlfriend and issues he had with Howenstowe's roof.

"I'm going down this weekend if no one decides to get murdered. I thought you might like to come." He had said it more of a statement than a question, as if he fully expected her to agree. "We could go walking down to the old smuggler's coves if you like. We can take the dogs." Tommy was trying to make it sound as relaxed and enticing as he could. He looked up to see her watching him carefully. She dropped her gaze quickly but not before he had seen that look again. It made his heart thump against his ribs.

"If I won't be in the way. How come you know all about the smugglers?" She liked hearing about his family. His past was so removed from hers that it fascinated her.

"I'm only the eighth Earl of Asherton so the title only goes back a few hundred years. We had land of course before but my fifth great grandfather made at lot of money from organising the smuggling into Nanrunnel. We weren't always on this side of the law."

"Yeah but as you've said before Cornwall didn't even see itself as English then."

When the meals finished the owner of the family business arrived and bowed formally. He laid a plate of six large, home made fortune cookies before them. "Start here Miss, then Sir, repeat. The last two you share." He smiled widely, bowed again and retreated.

"Well we had better follow instructions Barbara, you first."

She broke it open and started to eat the cookie before she read the message. "You will find love with a tall, dark and rich man." She laughed nervously. Her immediate thought was the man beside her. She had indeed found in him someone to love. It was only a faint regret that he did not reciprocate, at least not romantically.

Tommy grinned "I think they all say things like that. Right this one says 'you cannot force love; it will find you when the time is right'. I wish I had read that cookie years ago!"

Barbara looked up. She worried that he was lonely and a little lost without someone in his life and yet in many ways he had never seemed happier. "You'll find someone Sir. Someone who will be perfect for you."

"I know. Right, what's the next one say?"

Havers cracked it open and retrieved the folded sliver of paper. "True love does not see material possessions, only the wealth of the soul. Very profound for a fortune cookie." It might be true but when you are the one without wealth it was a very different story.

Tommy picked up the next as Barbara chomped happily on the hard sweetness of her cookie. "Hmm, sometimes what you seek is right in front of you." Tommy looked directly at Barbara and was pleased to see her blush.

Barbara could feel her face flush and hoped he did not understand that her first thought had been that she could be what he needed. She admonished herself quickly. They were simply good friends and dinner and weekends at his house would never alter that.

They both stared at the next fortune cookie. It was shaped like an entwined Yin Yang. Tommy broke it in two and handed on piece to Barbara. "Read yours first."

She opened it and read it then frowned. "Stars can only shine because of the darkness."

Tommy opened and read his, "without the stars the darkness means nothing."

Barbara was touched by the series of messages. It had been as if someone had known how she felt about her boss. She assumed this was something the restaurant did for lovers and they had mistaken them for a couple. She was secretly pleased but also deeply embarrassed. She dreaded what the final cookie might proclaim.

The last cookie had no natural division. They would have to break it together. Tommy put his hand over Barbara's and pushed. The cookie crumbled but he left his hand over hers. Barbara could feel her face redden. She did not want to wriggle free in case it insulted him. In truth she enjoyed the strength of his grip and the soft warmth of his skin against hers. She looked down and was mortified. In the cookie crumbs was a toy diamond ring. Barbara wished that the earth would open and swallow her.

Tommy passed her the fortune but did not release her left hand. "You had better read the last one," he said calmly.

Barbara laid it on the table and unrolled it between her thumb and forefinger. Her heart seemed to stop.

"Well?" Tommy asked.

"It says 'will you marry me Barbara?' Oh!"

He picked up the ring. It had survived the baking process. It would have been embarrassing explaining to the insurance company if it had been damaged. "I know what it says. What I don't know is your answer."

"But you've never even kissed me!" she exclaimed.

Tommy leant over and rectified that for her. It was gentle and loving and the first of many he had planned for that night. "Any other objections?"

"Oh Sir, thousands of reasons but no objections."

Tommy lifted her hand and went to put the ring on her finger. "The only thing that matters is that I love you. If you love me then you only have to say two little words."

He grinned at her in that tender way that made her heart race and her legs go to jelly. She knew what words he wanted to hear. She took a deep breath and answered him. "Yes Tommy."


End file.
